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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280351">(Non)Committal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cori_the_bloody/pseuds/cori_the_bloody'>cori_the_bloody</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Grocery Shopping, One Shot, and my persisting interest in ways that relationship could have come to an end, but also the result of the fact that i got a new pen and wanted to write something with it, this is the result of my dislike of h/h</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:13:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,792</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cori_the_bloody/pseuds/cori_the_bloody</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“So, do I get any clues,” Paula asks. “Or do I have to guess what this is about?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Rolling her eyes, Heather says, “It’s a Hector thing.”</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Heather Davis &amp; Paula Proctor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>(Non)Committal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you, Bethany &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Paula’s walking backward out the door and yelling—“I’m going to the store, so if you guys set something on fire, call your father!”—so she nearly stumbles into the approaching Heather.</p>
<p>“Bad time?” Heather guesses, sidestepping the collision and making Paula jump. “Sorry.”</p>
<p>“Oh, don’t be,” Paula says, “All my senses are dulled by years of listening to Brendan’s screechy music. I’m very easy to sneak up on.”</p>
<p>Heather frowns. “I find that hard to believe. Didn’t you and Rebecca, like, full-on stalk people around town?”</p>
<p>“I mean, when you initiate the stalking,” Paula says, with only the slightest furrow of her brow at the mention of her past indiscretions. “It tends to make you more aware of your surroundings.”</p>
<p>“Fair enough.”</p>
<p>“So, uh, what’re you doing here?” Paula asks, hiking her purse up higher onto her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Oh, I just need some advice,” Heather says, crossing her arms over her chest. “But you’ve got errands to run and it isn’t urgent, so.”</p>
<p>She’s turned and started back down the walkway when Paula calls out to her.</p>
<p>“Wanna keep me company?”</p>
<p>Heather spins around on her heel, eyebrows raised. “Cool.”</p>
<p>###</p>
<p>“So, do I get any clues,” Paula asks, pulling away from her house. “Or do I have to guess what this is about?”</p>
<p>Heather glances up from fiddling with Paula’s radio presets. Paula’s eyes are on the road, but her face is alright with a sly smile.</p>
<p>Rolling her eyes, Heather says, “It’s a Hector thing.”</p>
<p>“Ah,” Paula says. Her smile doesn’t slip, but her voice takes on a strange quality. Almost a brittleness, but slightly softer. “I see.”</p>
<p>“See what?” Heather asks, sitting back.</p>
<p>“Why you’re not going to Valencia or Rebecca.”</p>
<p>Heather cocks her head and, even though she pretty much knows what Paula’s answer will be, asks, “And why’s that?”</p>
<p>Paula changes lanes smoothly. “Valencia—bias, Rebecca—distractible.”</p>
<p>“You’re not a last resort, Paula.”</p>
<p>Heather puts enough fervor behind the assertion that Paula glances over at the passenger seat, surprise evident in her expression.</p>
<p>“Okay,” she says. It comes out sounding like a question.</p>
<p>“You’re the only person I know who’s married,” Heather elaborates. “Plus, I trust you to be, like, forthcoming or whatever.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Paula says, sounding more confident this time. “What do you need me to be forthcoming about?”</p>
<p>Heather hesitates. She’d thought about how, exactly, she would put her feelings of unease into words on her walk over to Paula’s house. She still doesn’t have a handle on it, though.</p>
<p>This doesn’t seem to bother Paula in the least. She parks her car in silence, and then takes a moment to study Heather before patting her on the thigh.</p>
<p>“Come on,” Paula says. “The post-work rush is a nightmare. Best to rip the bandage off.”</p>
<p>Wordlessly, Heather slides out of her seat and walks half a step behind Paula as she grabs a cart, fumbles with the tattered legal pad that houses her grocery list, and then starts to meander around the produce section of the store.</p>
<p>“So,” Paula says after deciding on a carton of grapes over the dismal selection of oranges. “What’s your favorite fruit?”</p>
<p>It’s not the question she’d been expecting, and Heather laughs. “Depends on the season, honestly.”</p>
<p>“That,” Paula says, clicking out the nub of her pen to cross something off her list, “is such a <em>you</em> answer.”</p>
<p>“Is it?”</p>
<p>Paula nods. “Pragmatic and noncommittal.”</p>
<p>“I’m not sure that’s a flattering combination.”</p>
<p>“You make it work,” Paula says, pushing the cart onward.</p>
<p>“Not always,” Heather says sullenly.</p>
<p>“Tell me about it.”</p>
<p>“Hector broke a dish last night,” Heather says, finally letting go of the hope that she’ll find the perfect words.</p>
<p>“And that…upset you?” Paula asks, clearly groping blindly for a way to be comforting.</p>
<p>“Well, I mean, yes,” Heather says, stopping in front of the cooler full of beverages. “But only because that was the third one in a month.”</p>
<p>Paula lets out a low whistle.</p>
<p>“It’s not like I’m mad at him because he’s clumsy,” Heather says, selecting a pomegranate juice for herself on a whim.</p>
<p>Paula takes it from her, adding it to the cart. “Sure. But that’s a lot.”</p>
<p>“It is,” Heather says with a nod.</p>
<p>“Too much?” Paula asks gently as she steers them over to the bakery.</p>
<p>“A little?” Heather says. “I don’t know. I guess that’s what I want to find out.”</p>
<p>Paula suspends her examination of a loaf of Italian bread to raise one dubious eyebrow at Heather. “If your boyfriend is too clumsy for you?”</p>
<p>The ridiculousness of the sentiment laid bare tugs a snort out from high in Heather’s sinuses.</p>
<p>“More like…” She pauses, wrestling with her ability to be articulate. “What makes someone worth putting up with them long-term?”</p>
<p>“Oh.”</p>
<p>“That sounds kinda mean, doesn’t it?” Heather says, scrunching her nose in distaste.</p>
<p>“No,” Paula says, a smile overtaking her. She sets the bread next to her purse in the cart. “It sounds pragmatic and noncommittal.”</p>
<p>Heather rolls her eyes, smiling back. “Yeah, yeah.”</p>
<p>They walk on, making their way to the snack aisle.</p>
<p>“This explains why my being married is relevant,” Paula says after a moment, leaning heavily on the cart’s handle as she walks.</p>
<p>“Uh-huh.”</p>
<p>Paula licks her lips, staring straight ahead. Heather gets the sense that she’s thinking.</p>
<p>“My first pregnancy was unexpected,” she says finally. “And I have regrets about not really considering how going through with it was gonna change my whole life.”</p>
<p>“You? Regret? No way.”</p>
<p>Paula nods wryly. “I know. I’m so good at hiding it.”</p>
<p>“Always very subtle,” Heather agrees.</p>
<p>Paula stops pushing the cart, suddenly and disconcertingly serious. “I’m just saying, I’m probably not the best person to speak to about choosing a life partner. I had one thrust upon me by circumstance, and I just kinda went with it.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, no, I know that,” Heather says. “But that’s, like, exactly the reason your advice is gonna be helpful.”</p>
<p>“You wanna mine my pain for valuable life lessons?”</p>
<p>Heather winces at hearing it put so callously, but she’s not exactly in the position to deny it. “Pretty much, yeah.”</p>
<p>Paula gives the cart a shove, continuing on. “Fire away.”</p>
<p>Heather lets out a weak, relieved laugh, swinging around an endcap full of cookies to follow Paula down the next aisle. “I guess I’m most curious about what you’d do differently.”</p>
<p>“Find more effective birth control methods,” Paula replies immediately.</p>
<p>Heather gives her the amused smile she’s clearly angling for, and then asks, “Anything else? Something applicable to my situation maybe?”</p>
<p>Paula lets out a noisy sigh, blowing hair out of her face. “Listen, the reason I’ve spent so much time feeling unfulfilled is because I thought I’d given up the prime of my life to being a wife and a mother. I believed for the longest time that that was all I was capable of, all I should be focusing on.”</p>
<p>“That’s stupid.”</p>
<p>“Very much so,” Paula agrees. They stop in front of the tea selection so she can add a box of Raspberry Zinger to her cart. “But that’s why it’s so refreshing to have law school in my life.”</p>
<p>“So you’re, like, totally happy now?”</p>
<p>“Totally may be overstating it,” Paula says, moving forward again. “But I do feel more, I don’t know, settled.”</p>
<p>“Huh.”</p>
<p>Heather can feel Paula studying her.</p>
<p>“You know,” she says after a moment. “Scott’s the one who ultimately convinced me to go after my dreams. That kind of support is invaluable.”</p>
<p>“Right,” Heather says, mind immediately jumping to Hector’s total acceptance of her whim to carry the Darryl and Rebecca baby, of all the errands he’d run and special gifts he’d brought home to her.</p>
<p>“On the other hand, it would have been easier to feel supported if I didn’t have to teach Scott how to do laundry on seven separate occasions.”</p>
<p>Heather’s mind turns to all the congealed pasta they’ve had to throw away because a well-meaning Hector tried to make dinner while she’d worked late. Or the ruined beanies Hector tried to wash in the machine. The trip they took the emergency room just the other night after a vegetable chopping incident.</p>
<p>“Can you reach this?” Paula asks, breaking into the reverie.</p>
<p>“Huh?” Heather tries to shake her head clear, and comes to in the baking aisle where Paula’s trying to get a bottle of non-stick spray off the top shelf. “Oh, sure.”</p>
<p>“I should bring you with me more often,” Paula says, grinning triumphantly as Heather hands her the canister.</p>
<p>“Sure,” Heather says, offering a tight smile in return.</p>
<p>“You can go back to contemplating the merits of your relationship now,” Paula says.</p>
<p>“Nah. I wasn’t getting anywhere anyway.”</p>
<p>Paula nods. “You wanna know how I see it?”</p>
<p>“Please,” Heather says, going for dry because, like, duh, but only managing to sound desperate.</p>
<p>“Hector’s sweet. He obviously adores you. You two have fun together. And—”</p>
<p>“And it would be nice if that were enough?” Heather says, guessing the big finish.</p>
<p>“You tell me,” Paula says. When Heather raises her eyebrows, she adds, “Any relationship gives you back what you put into it. For years and years, I poured resentment into mine and it only gave me back reasons to resent it.”</p>
<p>“I guess I could see that,” Heather says.</p>
<p>“You’re young,” Paula says. “You don’t have to be settling yourself in any way, least of all in who you’re going to spend your life loving. But if you wanted to…”</p>
<p>Heather nods slowly. “You’re saying that if I wanted a deep, lifelong relationship with Hector, I’d be in the process of creating one already.</p>
<p>“Something like that,” Paula says.</p>
<p>“Huh.”</p>
<p>They walk down a few aisles in silence.</p>
<p>“I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings,” Paula says eventually. “I’ve been told my assessment of other people’s lives can be aggressive and unwelcome.”</p>
<p>“Have you met me?” Heather asks, giving Paula a playful nudge.</p>
<p>Paula laughs obligingly.</p>
<p>“Besides, I asked you to tell me what you thought, remember?”</p>
<p>“Plenty of people claim to want that, and then can’t handle the results,” Paula says.</p>
<p>“I’m still processing, for sure,” Heather says, “But I really think you helped.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Paula says, and then falls quiet again. She allows Heather the space to keep thinking as they complete their circuit around the store.</p>
<p>It isn’t until they’re in line at the checkout that Heather speaks again. “Hey, Paula?”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“Thanks. I know you’re busy. It was cool of you to make time for me.”</p>
<p>“Oh.” Paula blushes, clearly pleased. “Well. It was fun.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Heather says, eyes gleaming. “A wise person once told me that you get out of a relationship what you put into it.”</p>
<p>Paula rolls her eyes, but she’s grinning.</p>
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